MuraRengan
Banned via Warnings
So what does everybody think about the offensive and defensive options in the game so far? I'm becoming a little concerned that there is a lack of movement options in the game (no dashdance), and that this is making offensive commitment a bit of a struggle. I've been playing a lot of online, and I'm seeing some distinct patterns in my good opponents. I've put my opinions below, but I find them too genuine to my own experience and am in no way asserting them as developing meta trend.
1. They don't approach. I'm the type of player that is eventually going to try to approach because I believe that if approaching puts me at a disadvantage, then the game's not worth playing. As a consequence, in a lot of my games if there's ever a neutral point where both players have equal options, I see that a lot of the time better opponents would rather stand still than attempt to engage a fight. These types of players go for a purely counter-attack centered playstyle and tend to roll a lot. Admittedly, I lose a lot in the beginning until I pick up on their roll habits. What concerns me is that in tournament I wont have as many games to pick up on these habits and that ultimately though I like to approach, it's not the best idea (or perhaps I'm playing bad chars).
2. They roll a lot. I'm not afraid of rolls, in fact, punishing rolls is one of my favorite things to do. But the safety in rolling in this game has made itself more than apparent. The punishment tactics of the prior games don't seem to work as well, the vulnerability window as well as the time inbetween rolls seems far too short. One of the most frustrating things about the game so far has been predicting a roll behind me, attempting to punish it with a move and having my opponent either roll out of it and counterattack or interrupt my move with a jab or something. It's really out of control. I've found that the most consistent punish I can get is a grab, but grabs haven't provided me with very much reward for the punish, so I feel like there's less danger in rolling a lot. I'm also finding that in some character specific scenarios, certain characters simply cannot punish rolls well. This will obviously become a matchup-to-matchup thing, but I find myself so astonished at the amount of times trying to punish a roll as a certain character has not only failed, but gotten me counter-attacked instead.
3. They like to reset to neutral. I've taken to this strategy as well. In the course of the game I find that there are a lot of roll skirmishes, and as soon as one player gets a hit and takes the advantage, the other player's best option is to land on the stage and roll as far away as possible. In my opinion, once someone can knock the opponent into the air or on the ground he has all the momentum. This is not necessarily because he can follow up, but because he then can move around the stage more freely, giving him overall more offensive options. I think this situation would not be as bad if so many moves didn't have such outrageous ending lag. If you've been knocked into the air, it's almost never worth it to try to counter attack because smart players will only get hit by it once or twice, then they'll start baiting it out. Often the best way to get back to the stage is to do nothing and watch to see if the opponent goes for a follow up, and air dodging if they do. Now, of course, the air dodge can be baited out too, but even baiting it is not always punishable. For whatever reason, when you get knocked in the air in this game you get sent way into the air, there are very few low altitude knock ups. The bait options aren't even very good, the only time you can actually punish is if you do an empty short hop. If you full hop you will get airdodged and counter attacked every time.
All in all, I think that there is no direct way to mount an approach. My main strategy is to bait my opponent's movement by making them think i'm approaching. I do lots of empty hops to bait out moves and rolls. I run past their shields to bait out rolls and dair on the spot that they roll to. I figure out their favorite punishments and try to space myself in such a way that they think they can land it. I wouldn't call it an offense, it's more like counter defense.
1. They don't approach. I'm the type of player that is eventually going to try to approach because I believe that if approaching puts me at a disadvantage, then the game's not worth playing. As a consequence, in a lot of my games if there's ever a neutral point where both players have equal options, I see that a lot of the time better opponents would rather stand still than attempt to engage a fight. These types of players go for a purely counter-attack centered playstyle and tend to roll a lot. Admittedly, I lose a lot in the beginning until I pick up on their roll habits. What concerns me is that in tournament I wont have as many games to pick up on these habits and that ultimately though I like to approach, it's not the best idea (or perhaps I'm playing bad chars).
2. They roll a lot. I'm not afraid of rolls, in fact, punishing rolls is one of my favorite things to do. But the safety in rolling in this game has made itself more than apparent. The punishment tactics of the prior games don't seem to work as well, the vulnerability window as well as the time inbetween rolls seems far too short. One of the most frustrating things about the game so far has been predicting a roll behind me, attempting to punish it with a move and having my opponent either roll out of it and counterattack or interrupt my move with a jab or something. It's really out of control. I've found that the most consistent punish I can get is a grab, but grabs haven't provided me with very much reward for the punish, so I feel like there's less danger in rolling a lot. I'm also finding that in some character specific scenarios, certain characters simply cannot punish rolls well. This will obviously become a matchup-to-matchup thing, but I find myself so astonished at the amount of times trying to punish a roll as a certain character has not only failed, but gotten me counter-attacked instead.
3. They like to reset to neutral. I've taken to this strategy as well. In the course of the game I find that there are a lot of roll skirmishes, and as soon as one player gets a hit and takes the advantage, the other player's best option is to land on the stage and roll as far away as possible. In my opinion, once someone can knock the opponent into the air or on the ground he has all the momentum. This is not necessarily because he can follow up, but because he then can move around the stage more freely, giving him overall more offensive options. I think this situation would not be as bad if so many moves didn't have such outrageous ending lag. If you've been knocked into the air, it's almost never worth it to try to counter attack because smart players will only get hit by it once or twice, then they'll start baiting it out. Often the best way to get back to the stage is to do nothing and watch to see if the opponent goes for a follow up, and air dodging if they do. Now, of course, the air dodge can be baited out too, but even baiting it is not always punishable. For whatever reason, when you get knocked in the air in this game you get sent way into the air, there are very few low altitude knock ups. The bait options aren't even very good, the only time you can actually punish is if you do an empty short hop. If you full hop you will get airdodged and counter attacked every time.
All in all, I think that there is no direct way to mount an approach. My main strategy is to bait my opponent's movement by making them think i'm approaching. I do lots of empty hops to bait out moves and rolls. I run past their shields to bait out rolls and dair on the spot that they roll to. I figure out their favorite punishments and try to space myself in such a way that they think they can land it. I wouldn't call it an offense, it's more like counter defense.
